Portfolio

27 Feb 2011

Robert Mapplethorpe

Yesterday I watched a Robert Mapplethorpe documentary and found the inspiration I've been longing for this whole year. I'd been meaning to get closer to his work, as I was drawn to the beauty he was able to capture. However, I never realised just how relevant I'd find his work and just how heart-breaking his life was: his life long relationship with Patti Smith; his devotion to photographing flowers just as much as the male nude and his death to AIDS in 1989.

There is such a deep honesty in every one of his shots. Mapplethorpe's extraordinary vision shows us exactly what he saw. I find it really hard to question anything about his work, I just get it. I'm just completely overwhelmed by his portraits. So powerful.